Where to watch England vs New Zealand
You can watch England vs New Zealand live on TNT Sports, 3.10pm Saturday
Match prediction & best bet
Under 5.5 tries
3pts 5-6 Coral, Hills, Ladbrokes
England vs New Zealand predictions
New Zealand picked up two narrow home wins against England in the summer having trailed in both games, while the last time the teams met at Twickenham it ended in a 25-25 draw, so it’s no surprise bookmakers are anticipating another close encounter when they renew rivalry on Saturday.
The All Blacks are four-point favourites as England look to improve a record of just two wins in their last 20 Tests between the pair, a run that stretches back 20 years.
One of those victories was at Twickenham in 2012 after the Kiwi camp had been laid low by a sickness bug in the build-up to the game, while the other was a famous 19-7 semi-final success at the Rugby World Cup in Japan five years ago.
So New Zealand have historically held the upper hand but England have tended to put up a fight – just one of the All Blacks’ last eight victories has been by more than a single-figure margin.
Two second-half penalties in last summer’s first Test helped New Zealand eke out a 16-15 success in their first match under new coach Scott Robertson, while they were 24-17 winners the following week in Auckland.
England have a very similar team out to the one that started that Test, with the notable exception of injured scrum-half Alex Mitchell, who is replaced by Bath’s Ben Spencer.
Henry Slade, who played his first club match of the season last week after surgery in the off-season, is straight back into the line-up at centre, but although there is a familiar look to the backline, England may lack fluency and the same could be said of an All Blacks outfit who have made a significant change in the halves.
Damian McKenzie has started most of New Zealand’s matches this year at fly-half but has been dropped to the bench with Beauden Barrett taking over in the role. He lines up alongside the relatively inexperienced scrum-half Cortez Ratima.
The fast-track return of Slade to England’s line-up underlines the emphasis their coaching team put on defensive set-up while Barrett’s return for the All Blacks suggests a more workmanlike approach from New Zealand, who are still finding their feet under Robertson after a mixed Rugby Championship campaign in which they lost at home to Argentina and twice to South Africa.
A tight contest looks to be on the cards and if the teams are slow to get into gear in attack, going under the total tries line looks the best bet.
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